Build a clear map of the Stripe objects used in Connect: Accounts, Customers, PaymentMethods, PaymentIntents, Charges, Transfers, Balances, Payouts, and Application Fees. You will see which objects belong to the platform and which belong to a connected account.

See how Connect grew from marketplace payments into a platform system for SaaS, creator platforms, gig work, franchising, and embedded finance. This chapter ties major changes like account types, SCA-ready payments, hosted onboarding, and embedded components to the problems they solved.

Compare Standard, Express, and Custom connected accounts through control, user experience, compliance responsibility, dashboard access, and support burden. You will be able to choose the account model that fits a marketplace, SaaS platform, or managed service business.

Set up a Connect platform in test mode, use the Dashboard, protect API keys, pick API versions, and make your first safe API calls with a Stripe SDK. The chapter also covers test clocks, test cards, connected account test data, and the difference between live and test mode.

Create connected accounts with the API and store the IDs your app will need later. You will practice using metadata, idempotency keys, and internal records so your platform can match Stripe activity to users in your own system.

Collect required seller information with Account Links, Account Sessions, hosted onboarding, and embedded onboarding. The chapter explains capabilities, verification status, requirements, deadlines, and how to guide users when Stripe needs more information.

Handle KYC, KYB, beneficial owners, sanctions screening, restricted businesses, service agreements, and platform responsibilities. You will know what Stripe handles, what your platform must decide, and when legal or compliance help is required.

Use Checkout, Payment Element, and PaymentIntents to collect payments that support cards, wallets, bank debits, and SCA-style authentication. You will connect the payment flow to a connected account without taking unsafe shortcuts around authentication or confirmation.

Build direct charges, destination charges, and separate charges and transfers, then compare where the charge appears, who pays fees, who owns disputes, and how reporting changes. You will be able to pick the right charge type for common platform models.

Add application fees, fee amounts, fee percentages, and pricing rules for different sellers or products. The chapter shows how fees appear in Stripe, how refunds affect them, and how to keep your platform’s revenue records clean.

Work with Stripe balances, pending funds, available funds, transfers, reversals, payout schedules, instant payouts, and negative balances. You will know how to prevent seller confusion when money is delayed, reversed, or unavailable.

Use webhooks to keep your database correct when payments succeed, onboarding changes, payouts fail, disputes open, or requirements become due. You will build retry-safe handlers with signature checks, idempotency, event storage, and clear recovery steps.

Process full and partial refunds, reverse transfers, refund application fees, and handle cases where the connected account no longer has enough funds. You will know how refund choices affect the customer, the seller, and the platform.

Handle disputes from evidence collection through submission, win or loss, fees, and balance impact. The chapter also covers Radar, review queues, suspicious seller behavior, and practical ways to reduce fraud before it becomes a chargeback problem.

Prepare for tax forms, seller tax information, transaction classification, and year-end reporting duties such as 1099 workflows in the United States. You will also see where sales tax, VAT, marketplace facilitator rules, and local advice enter the Connect picture.

Match Stripe activity to your own orders, invoices, sellers, bank deposits, and accounting system. You will use balance transactions, reports, exports, Sigma-style queries, and ledger thinking to explain every cent that entered or left the platform.

Design one complete marketplace flow from seller signup to customer payment, platform fee, transfer, payout, refund, dispute, reconciliation, and support follow-up. This chapter ties the earlier pieces into the decisions a real Connect project needs before launch.

Add embedded onboarding, account management, notification banners, payout controls, and seller dashboards using Connect embedded components. You will know when components can replace custom UI and when your own product still needs a custom flow.

Use Financial Connections to let users securely link bank accounts, verify ownership, check balances when appropriate, and improve onboarding or payout experiences. The chapter covers consent, data access, privacy expectations, and fallback flows.

Offer faster access to funds with Instant Payouts and eligible debit card payout flows. You will handle eligibility, fees, limits, failure cases, and messaging so sellers know what speed they are choosing.

See how Stripe Treasury and Issuing can extend a Connect platform into stored balances, financial accounts, cards, and embedded money management. The chapter focuses on use cases, regulatory weight, operational duties, and when this is too much for a simpler marketplace.

Handle multiple countries, currencies, settlement merchants, cross-border transfers, local payment methods, FX, and regional onboarding rules. You will be able to spot when a platform design works in one country but breaks in another.

Build subscriptions, memberships, usage-based billing, trials, invoices, and renewals when a connected account provides the service. The chapter shows how Billing choices interact with charge types, fees, taxes, cancellations, and seller reporting.

Use Stripe’s test tools, fixtures, CLI, logs, request IDs, webhook replay, monitoring, and staged rollout practices before going live. You will also handle API upgrades, backwards-compatible changes, and incident rollback plans.

Operate a live Connect platform with support playbooks, risk reviews, failed payout handling, seller communications, compliance updates, and internal controls. This chapter turns Connect from a one-time integration into a service your team can run every day.

Map the skills behind Connect work: backend engineering, product management, payments operations, risk, compliance, support, finance, and solutions architecture. You will identify portfolio projects, proof-of-skill artifacts, Stripe certifications or partner paths, and reliable ways to stay current as Stripe changes.